The invention relates to a pusher centrifuge with a centrifuge drum, a pusher bottom, a filler pipe for the material to be centrifuged connected to the centrifuge housing and extending coaxially into the centrifuge drum, and a distribution cone positioned downstream of the filler pipe and concentric thereto having its end with the greater diameter facing the pusher bottom at a distance so as to leave an annular gap.
In pusher centrifuges of this type there is a need to accelerate the material to be centrifuged, for increasing the throughput while at the same time gently treating sensitive solid particles and reducing wear at the centrifuge, especially wear of the slotted screen in the supply area, to the angular velocity of the solid particle cake within the centrifuge drum.
In an attempt to solve this problem, in a pusher centrifuge known from German Patent DE 28 48 156 C2 the material to be centrifuged is unsatisfactorily preaccelerated through a guiding wall, extending perpendicularly to the centrifuge axis, to an angular velocity of the filter cake formed so that a spontaneous dewatering, required for forming a push-resistance solid particle cake within the supply area, cannot be ensured. This results in a reduction of the mass throughput within the pusher centrifuge. From German Patent 43 08 749 a pusher centrifuge is furthermore known in which the material to be centrifuged is accelerated to a high velocity by a pump wheel-like insert between the pusher bottom and the guide disk. However, the constructively resulting high radial acceleration component, which is even further enhanced by the number of the pump wheel vanes, results in great wear of the slotted screen coating within the supply area.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a pusher centrifuge with which solid materials can be separated from liquids with optimal mass throughput and with reduced wear of the slotted screen coating within the supply area.